Blogger of the Month May 2022: Ophelia Talks Crochet

For May's Blogger of the Month, we had the pleasure to talk with Anja from Ophelia Talks Crochet. Anja boasts over 100k subscribers on her YouTube channel, where she talks about everything crochet. Ophelia Talks Crochet posts multiple weekly videos with occasionally live crochet talks, where Anja delves into her crochet adventures!

Let's kick our interview off with you telling us, why did you start Blogging?
 
I took up crochet again in 2015 after a very long hiatus and just could not stop crocheting as I loved it so much. I soon started showing friends how to do it, and a suggestion was made: “Why don’t you put a video on YouTube?”; and that was the start of the channel and here we are 850+ videos and 100K subscribers later!
 
What inspires your work?

My subscribers and fellow crocheters. I like to keep things simple but with stunning effects. Some of my projects might look difficult to do, but in fact, they are simple to create. I like to bring in an element of mindfulness so that whoever is making my project can enjoy a moment of calm me-time, just for them.

How has HiyaHiya helped with your work?

I started using HiyaHiya hooks soon after I picked up my hook again and it has helped me enormously with being able to crochet fast and accurately. I also find that it helps to improve the uniformity of my stitches. I only bought my first one because the colours of the hooks caught my eye! What a great decision that was!

What is your favourite/go-to HiyaHiya product?

The infamous 3.5 pink crochet hook! It features in all my videos and I use it all the time. Yes, of course, some yarns call for another size hook and I do use those, but the 3.5 is the main one. I have several of them and I lose and find them all the time, I have newer ones that are still lovely and pink, and then there are my older ones which have faded. I consider a faded hook the sign of a great workhorse! And that they are!!

What projects are you working on at the moment?

I am always working on multiple projects as I bring out 2 videos a week and I have to design, create and film them, so there is always something I have to film first before I can proceed to work on it. Let’s put it this way: I am working on a blanket, a garment, an object, and a few more blankets too!
 
Who/What do you draw inspiration from for your work and designs?

Anything can be an inspiration to me: a ball of yarn, a walk-in nature, a non-crochet item (I can do that in crochet!), a trip to Ikea, the blankets my late grandma made me, …

Are there any designers or fellow bloggers you admire or have been influenced by?

Not really, I try to be my own self: not counting stitches, making up my own stitch names (e.g. dainty cluster), encouraging fudging, teasing everyone but overall ensuring people enjoy their hobby. I publish lookbooks as well as tutorials on my channel and I host a Sunday Live Talk every week. I try to be different from other channels by taking my crochet projects to interesting places around the country and showing them off.

What are your plans for the future? Have you got anything in the pipeline?

I always have lots in the pipeline so who knows what will come out first. Our webshop has been a great success and we are now expanding our range. I look for some interesting yarn, make a project with it, and then by the time I publish it, we have the yarn available on our site. People can come to Ophelia Talks for a complete experience! Tutorials, patterns, yarn, live talks, and encouragement in the Facebook group. If they plan on making every one of my video tutorials they will be busy crocheting for the foreseeable future! The summer will soon be here, so there will be some fun summery projects coming our way as well as of course another CAL in the autumn.

We are super grateful to Anja for taking the time to answer our questions. It's fantastic to hear about why you love crochet and why you decided to share your work with your viewers. Make sure you head over to Anja's YouTube channel, subscribe, and enjoy her crochet journey.